Upmarket Singapore grocer Little Farms is set to open its fourth store, in Holland Village at the end of this month.

Founder Fred Moujalli, the former produce-buying manager of the defunct Woolworths-owned Thomas Dux gourmet grocery chain in Sydney, founded the Singapore business two and a half years ago. Besides its focus on fresh, quality produce, the Little Farms stores stock fresh deli and bakery items and gourmet foods. Its existing stores are at United Square in Novena, the Tanjong Pagar Centre and Valley Point Shopping Centre.

In an interview with the Straits Times, Moujalli says produce for the stores is air freighted into Singapore four days a week from Australia and twice a week from Europe.

“We have buyers on the ground at Sydney Markets, the wholesale produce market in Sydney, and I know farmers in Australia with whom I had worked previously. I have also visited farms in Britain and France.

“What we bring in depends on the seasons and time of the year. Currently, about 70 per cent of our produce comes from Australia. But come October, that will increase to about 95 per cent,” he said.

Moujalli says he opened the first Little Farms store after seeing a gap in the Singapore market for fresh, high-quality, ethical produce.

“Also, I could not buy a decent avocado here. They looked black on the outside – the skin turns a darker hue when ripe – but they were rock hard and that made me upset. I later found out that a lot of the produce in the stores here came in via sea freight and because of the longer travel time, that meant the produce was not being picked at its best. I knew then that I wanted to bring in the best avocados from Australia and they would have to be air-freighted.”

Little Farms stores stock about 2600 products. The new Holland Village store will comprise about 2000sqft of floor space.

Read more about Moujalli’s passion for food and his future expansion strategy from the full interview online.